On Saturday, the day before he turned 59, chess champion and Russia’s contested nominee for the International Chess Federation (FIDE) presidency, Anatoly Karpov fired off a scathing open letter.

Addressed to his “dear colleagues,” the letter took aim at Arkady Dvorkovich, Dmitry Medvedev’s chief economic advisor and overseer of the Russian Chess Federation who, on Thursday, sent a brigade of private security men to the RCF’s offices to expel its president and seal off key documents.

At issue was the legality of the vote that took place on May 14, that narrowly elected Karpov, who is now backed by his arch rival Garry Kasparov, to represent Russia in FIDE’s upcoming presidential elections. Dvorkovich, who has thrown his weight behind local crazy manKirsan Ilyumzhinov, claims the vote was illegitimate. Karpov says na-uh.

“While Mr. Ilyumzhinov’s loss in the vote may have been embarrassing to Mr. Dvorkovich, his displeasure does not make the vote ‘illegitimate’ or justify illegal acts by a senior government official,” Karpov wrote on his election site. “Knocking the pieces off the board when you lose does not change the result.”